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I cross the room to the middle of the room, then drop down onto the leather sofa. Leaning back, I cross my leg over the other.
She doesn’t move.
“Ask,” I prompt her, arching an eyebrow. “I know you’re dying to know.”
She hesitates. “Wh-What will I be doing here? My stepmother didn’t exactly say anything.”
To be fair, I didn’t tell the woman a single thing. She started batting her eyes at me and flirting as a means to help pay her debt, but when I rejected her advances, she offered her stepdaughter as collateral. I jumped at the chance, and now, my mind dances with all kinds of images of what I’d like to do with a beauty like her.
“Is there something specific you had your heart set on?”
“Well,” she answers, giving a small shrug. “I’m not too sure what a man like you does on a daily basis, but…” Her breaths quicken, and she offers me a weak smile. “I just have to know if you’re going to punish me for being in your room?”
I chuckle, remembering the words from the night of the event when I told the woman, whose name I barely remember, that I’d punish her for entering my room. But my life has always been that way—women sneaking into my room, trying to gain my attention. I’ve fucked them, which is exactly what they want, but only for one night and never more.
“What I saw last night…” Sapphire is flushing furiously, pushing her fingers over one another in a nervous twitch.
“It was a private time of indulgence. Are you curious to learn more? To experience such a moment? Is that why you ask?”
“I didn’t mean to intrude,” she gasps. “I was lost, then I…I shouldn’t have spied. But just so you know, I have no interest in you beyond doing my duty for my family, so what happened that night I will put behind me.”
I can’t hold back the smile.
She’s studying me with those piercing eyes that see too much. Few dare to look me in the eye, yet she does. I adore her tenacity and the challenge she presents.
“Is that all?” I ask.
She fixes me with another of her serious stares, and there’s no doubt in my mind that she has fought for everything in her life. I’ve looked into her family and understand the heartache and trouble they are in and how Sapphire here is simply a pawn in their issues. The stepmother threw her at me to cover her debts. The woman even had the audacity to ask me for additional funds for giving me Sapphire for a year. I said I’d think about it, but I’ve dealt with sharks like her my entire life and know how to handle them.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Sapphire says. “About my role here?”
“You will find out soon enough.” I push to my feet and slip my hands into the pockets of my dress pants. “For today, get accustomed to your new home and the rest of the team. Now, if that’s all, I have endless work to complete.”
She gives me a look. Something tells me she doesn’t buy the excuse for a second, but the longer I stare at her, the harder it is to resist the urge to play with my brand-new toy. I’m not ready to break her so quickly.
“Of course,” she finally answers, then she hurries out of my office, my gaze tracing her ass. I can’t stop thinking of her breathy shock when I cornered her in the hallway the night of the soirée—her parted, pretty lips, fluttering eyelashes, and the way she stared at me so innocently. That temptation has taunted me since that night.
I’m not a fucking fool to know what I really want from her… what I always want from gorgeous women, except there’s something more to her that intrigues me.
Until I work out how to get her out of my head, I’m not ready to ruin her.
Moments later, Luke, my second in command, strolls into my office, staring over his shoulder at something behind him… something I suspect is Sapphire.
His laughter fills the room.
“I can’t believe you did it. You went and brought her to work here.” His gaze drifts to me, then back to the doorway. Standing inches shorter than me, he’s built and spends hours every morning down at the gym when he’s not working for me or finding a new girl to entertain. “Why not just spend a few days with her, fuck her out of your system like you do with all of them, then move on? Why the hell promise her a whole year?”
Releasing a controlled exhale, I shift my attention to the windows, then move to my desk and sink into the leather chair behind it. The heavy oak feels solid beneath my fingers, grounding me.
“She’s here,” I state with precision. “And it’s none of your damn business why. But while we’re on the subject, keep your eyes and hands to yourself. She’s my responsibility.”
I’ve seen Luke with women, always preying on them after they spent time with me, knowing they’re easy for him. The guy could have any woman he wants, but he’s lazy and wants everything handed to him.
There’s more to why I brought Sapphire into my home than curiosity and attraction. Something about the way her stepmother so easily sold her reminded me too much of how my father treated me before he passed. He traded me to a competitive company to win a billion-dollar job. I’ll never forget the stabbing rejection that still cuts through me, even today. It’s the kind of fucking pain that never leaves you, and part of me, maybe stupidly, wanted to save her. I suspected if it wasn’t me, her stepmother, Clemency, would offer her to someone else for money.
It brought back memories, hatred, and anger. So, I took her away from her toxic stepmother.
Luke makes his way over to the bar cart while unbuttoning his shirt cuffs. The clink of glass against glass resonates as he pours himself a generous amount of whiskey.
